Massimo Fanucci

Massimo Fanucci (1850-August 1920) was the boss of the Black Hand in Hell's Kitchen, New York City during the early 20th century. In 1920, he was killed by Vito Corleone, who would establish the Corleone crime family in the city shortly after.

Biography
Massimo Fanucci was born in Sicily in 1850, and he emigrated to the United States during the 1890s. Fanucci settled in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City, New York, where he became involved with crime as the boss of the local Black Hand extortionists. He demanded protection money from neighborhood businesses and disrespected Mafia rules when he did not confine his demands to non-Sicilians, becoming known as a brute.

Fanucci found his power challenged by a younger immigrant named Vito Corleone, who made robberies in the neighborhood without giving Fanucci any tribute money. Rather than pay tribute to Fanucci, Corleone decided to murder Fanucci, believing that he had exaggerated his underworld connections. In August 1920, during the Feast of San Rocco, Corleone followed Fanucci to his apartment, and he shot Fanucci in the chest, cheek, and mouth with a pistol (using a towel and the nearby loud music as a silencer). Corleone became a respected figure in New York, ruling Little Italy with benevolence.